'No. Wait. Please. Just give me a few more minutes.'

'What are you hoping? That she'll call you?'

'Right. Then maybe I will have something to tell the Alexandria police. She trusts me. So maybe we can figure out a way to bring her in safely.'

The phone rang on Tony's desk. Before Craig could stand and get to it, Tony picked it up.

'Missing Persons… Just a minute.' Tony extended the phone toward Craig.

'It's her?' Craig asked.

'No. Alexandria Homicide.'

Craig froze.

At once another phone rang, and this time Captain Mallory picked it up. 'Missing Persons. Yeah, you bet. Right away.'

Craig glanced from one phone to the other in bewilderment.

'Better take it,' Mallory said. 'It's a woman, and the way she says your name, it's like she's in trouble and she needs help from God.'

Craig lunged for the phone.

TEN

'Tess, is that you?'

At the sound of Craig's voice, Tess felt her knees weaken. Jesus. At last!

After having nervously backed the sleek, black, Porsche 911 from the spacious garage next to Mrs Caudill's mansion, she'd felt naked with fear. Her right hand had trembled as she'd changed gears, driving from the secluded, expensive neighborhood.

She'd passed few cars, but that had only made those few cars more suspicious. There was too great a chance that the killers would have left a sentry in the area. Repeatedly she'd checked her rearview mirror. No one seemed to be following her. But when she left the exclusive neighborhood and increased speed onto a crowded four-lane thoroughfare next to which laundromats, quick-food restaurants, and video stores blighted the area, she realized that in the dense traffic she wouldn't be able to tell if a car pursued her.

Worse, her own car – costly and ostentatious – was a liability. In her youth, she'd overheard her father's conversations on the telephone. Just make sure, he once had said. Whatever car they use, it can't be fancy. It has to blend.

Well, this car certainly didn't blend. Passing drivers in non-luxurious vehicles assessed the Porsche with envy.

Damn, she thought and clutched the purse beside her – the pistol within it – for reassurance. When she saw the telephone booth at the edge of the crowded parking lot of a shopping mall, she braked to a stop beside the booth, hurried from the car, fumbled a credit card from her wallet, grabbed the receiver, and again phoned Craig's office.

'Yes,' she breathed. 'It's me. I tried to call you earlier.'

'I thought that might have been you. Thank God, you're alive. I was so afraid…'

'They burned… They killed my mother.'

'I know, Tess. I'm sorry. You must be… When I see you, I'll try to… I can't make the pain go away, but I'll do my best to share it. What's important now is that you weren't killed as well.'

'Not yet! But they'll keep hunting me! I'm terrified that I'm being followed. What am I going to do? Whoever's after me will watch the local police station. I can't go there, and if I phone the police, I'm afraid the killers will tune in to police broadcasts. I need help!'

'Listen. Don't panic, Tess. I promise. I'll make sure you're protected. Where are you? I hear traffic in the background.'

'I don't… I… On the outskirts of Alexandria. I'm in a phone booth near a shopping mall.'

'Christ, you can't stay there.' Craig coughed. 'Is there any place you can hide until I get to Alexandria?'

She trembled and tried to think.

Tess?'

'I can't involve my former friends. They might get killed. I thought of a movie theater, but with so many people around, in the dark, I wouldn't feel safe. Maybe the library. Maybe a museum. But they're so public I wouldn't feel safe there either.'

'Just a minute. I have to put you on hold. Don't hang up. I'll be right back.'

'No, wait!'

'Tess, it's important. Stay right there.'

She heard a click. Then the line was silent, except for the longdistance static.

Her hands shook.

Hurry! Please!

Furtive, she stared around at the crowded parking lot, at ominous strangers getting out of cars.

Two men stood next to a van and squinted in her direction.

Tess shoved her hand in her purse, grasping the pistol.

The two men rounded the van, about to flank her, but unexpectedly changed direction and walked toward the shopping mall.

Tess exhaled, realizing that they'd simply been admiring the Porsche.

Craig, hurry!

At once his voice was back on the line. 'Tess?'

'What have you been doing?' Her voice quavered.

'Look, I'm sorry. I didn't think that would take so long. I needed some information. I'll be on a Trump shuttle that's supposed to land at Washington National Airport at two-oh-seven. How did you get to that shopping mall? Have you got a car?'

'Yes.'

'What kind? I need to recognize it.'

'A Porsche nine-eleven. Black.'

'I have to give you credit. Even if you're scared, you travel in class.'

'Craig, spare me the humor.'

'I'm only trying to keep up your spirits. Okay, if it's business you want, pay attention. There's a Marriott hotel in Crystal City near the airport. As soon as I arrive, I'll grab a taxi and watch for your car at the hotel's entrance. At the latest, I ought to be there by two-thirty.'

'But that'll be three hours from now!'

'I've already figured that. Drive to Washington. Take a tour of the Capitol Building. With so many guards there, no one would dare try to get at you. Just be careful when you leave and return to your car.'

'Be careful? Since last night, being careful is all I've been trying to do.'

'Well, try even harder. And in the meantime, I'll contact the Alexandria police. I'll tell them what's going on.'

'No! If this gets on their radio…!'

'Tess, you've got to trust me. I'll talk to their chief. I'll make sure he keeps a lid on this. I won't tell him where you are or where we're going to meet. All I want is to organize a team to take you to a place that's secure.'

'There isn't such a place!'

'Believe me, there is. A house. A hotel room. A farm. Whatever, wherever, I guarantee you'll be smothered with guards. Just keep control! Please. A few more hours, and this'll be over.'

'No! You're wrong!'

'I don't…'

'They'll always be waiting. They'll never give up. This won't ever end!'

'It will if we can find out why they want to kill you. Once their secret's out – whatever it is – they won't have a reason to stop you from talking.'

'If we can find out what they're so afraid I know. If. If! If!'

'I'm telling you, keep control.'

'But it doesn't stop just with me!' Tess said. 'I'm not the only one in danger!'

'I don't understand. Nobody else is…'

'Wrong! Don't forget! Craig, you were with me. You heard me talk about Joseph! You went with me to Joseph's apartment! You saw what was in his bedroom! If the killer's followed both of us, to protect their secret they might come after you!'

Craig didn't answer for a moment. 'So let the sons of bitches try.' He coughed again. The Marriott near the airport. Two-thirty. Drive past it until you see me. I'll recognize your car.'

'You make me feel…"

'This isn't the time to be evasive.'

'Confident. I'll be as clever as my father. I'll be there.'